PICTURES: Images of the destruction caused by Blackpool gas explosion

Paul Berentzen

These shocking images show the scale of the devastation caused by a massive gas explosion in Blackpool.

Emergency services were called to Charles Street at around 5.55pm on Saturday following the blast.

The wreckage at the rear of the property. Photo: Donna Clifford

A man and a woman were trapped in the wreckage of the three-storey terraced building, described by police as a guest house but understood to have been privately occupied, with rooms rented out by the owners.